Carers who stole from their employers and a train driver who looked at Whatsapp moments before his Merseyrail service crashed are among the people who walked free this week.
A former headteacher who downloaded images of child abuse and a bouncer who broke a partygoer's jaw were also avoided prison at Liverpool Crown Court this week.
Judges and magistrates take many things into account when sentencing defendants.
Early guilty pleas, previous good character and mitigating circumstances can all mean it is deemed in the interests of justice not to send someone to prison.
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But anyone given a suspended sentence has to abide by its terms - and if they offend again they face an uphill battle not to go to jail.
Here are some of the people who could have gone to jail immediately but were given a second chance this week.
Phillip Hollis
A driver who was sending Whatsapp messages moments before he crashed his speeding Merseyrail train avoided jail.
Phillip Hollis sent a friend a message moments before realising his Kirkby-bound service was travelling at almost three times the speed limit of the entrance to the station on March 13 last year.
He hit the emergency brake shortly before reaching the platform but the train crashed through barriers at the station with 12 passengers and a guard on board.
He was regarded as a consistent and reliable driver, yet on the day of the accident he approached Kirkby at 42mph when the speed limit was 15mph.
The train careered through barriers at the station causing extensive damage and major disruption to train services for weeks.
No one on the train was injured.
Judge David Potter said there was evidence to indicate Hollis’ actions that day were out of character and pointed to a number of personal references from former colleagues in which they describe him as a role model.
Hollis, of Spellow Lane, was handed a 12 month jail term, suspended for two years. He must also follow a curfew between 7pm and 7am for three months and complete 180 hours of unpaid work.
Clair Woodward
A mum-of-three cruelly betrayed an elderly neighbour who had treated her like "family".
Clair Woodward "borrowed" thousands of pounds from the vulnerable pensioner, who had memory problems.
The single mum even sent her children round to ask for money, before she then started stealing from the victim.
Woodward started helping her victim with daily chores and the victim began paying her for cleaning.
The prosecutor said Woodward also started "borrowing" money, which she said she would pay back.
He said there were no charges in relation to this amount - more than £5,000 but less than £10,000 in total - but it was investigated by the police.
He handed her four months in prison, suspended for 12 months, with a 15-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement, and an eight-week home curfew, from 9pm to 6am daily.
Recorder Blakey said he would not make a compensation order because of Woodward's financial position.
David Young
A bouncer at a city centre club put a partygoer in a headlock and broke his jaw after he was hit by a dropped glowstick.
David Young was on shift at Modo in Concert Square on November 16, 2019, when he launched the brutal assault on Ratislav Marton.
Mr Marton had been “causing no trouble” at the bar on a busy Saturday night when Young “lost control of himself” and battered the partygoer before dragging him out.
Despite this, Young walked free from Liverpool Crown Court today after a ruling that his health issues and the amount of time the case had remained in the legal system meant his jail term should be suspended.
Young, of Onslow Road, was sentenced to nine months in prison, suspended for 18 months.
He also faces a six month curfew and must take part in rehabilitation activities.
In a statement to the ECHO, a Modo spokeswoman said the club was "extremely sorry" that the assault occurred.
Nicola Brimage
A heartless woman sobbed as she was being sentenced for stealing from a vulnerable pensioner she cared for.
Nicola Brimage, 32, helped herself to nearly £6,000 from a vulnerable 78-year-old woman she was caring for, leaving her "devastated" and in her overdraft.
Brimage, of Gautby Road, Bidston, who was described as being "as low as it gets", s pent the money on Amazon, eBay and Paypal with her own name and email address.
During a hearing at Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday, March 8, the 32-year-old said she "couldn't stop" and "just kept on spending" the money of her victim, a housebound woman with Parkinson's disease.
When police spoke to Amazon, eBay and PayPal, they discovered Brimage had used her own name and email account when making £5,948.50 of purchases.
The judge handed her a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, with a 15-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement and 80 hours of unpaid work.
Simon Marshall
A "greedy" couple ran a children's football club into the ground by blowing nearly £100,000 of its money.
Michelle and Simon Marshall were the directors of Phoenix Football Youth Club in Southport.
It secured a £75,000 grant for a new clubhouse and had around £41,000 coming in from player subscriptions.
Yet while Michelle Marshall was jailed, Simon Marshall was handed a suspended sentence.
But while building work stalled and players went without proper equipment, the Marshalls and their three children holidayed in the USA, France and Italy - enjoying meals out, paintballing and boating trips.
Liverpool Crown Court was told earlier this week that Mrs Marshall, 42, was chairwoman and treasurer, while her 47-year-old husband was the secretary and welfare officer of the club, then based in Russell Road.
Citing the "persistent nature" of her offending, Judge Woodhall jailed Mrs Marshall for two and a half years.
The judge said Mr Marshall - the owner of a car valeting business - accepted he lived beyond his means and the dad said if he was jailed, they would likely lose their family home.
Judge Woodhall handed him 15 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, and told him to complete a 30-day Rehabilitation Requirement and 250 hours of unpaid work.
Mark Smith AKA Mark Bocker
A former Merseyside headteacher downloaded pictures of kids as young as eight being sexually abused.
Mark Smith, also known as Mark Bocker, worked in education for more than three decades, including in Knowsley, but was convicted of possession of indecent images earlier this year.
While using his birth surname of Bocker, Smith, now of Formby, worked in schools across the North West.
At his sentencing hearing, Liverpool Crown Court was told the 61-year-old changed his name very recently but the judge in the case confirmed the surname Bocker was the one he has used for the vast majority of his life.
Peter Hussey, prosecuting, said police were alerted in 2020 to indecent images being downloaded to a device and this was later traced to Smith, who was arrested and admitted possession of indecent images in February.
Bocker, of Gores Lane, Formby, was handed a six month jail term, suspended for 18 months.
He must also sign the sex offender’s register for seven years and was made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for the same period of time.
He must also complete rehabilitation courses.
Michael Cheeseman
A thug used his dad’s BMW to cause bedlam on the M53 then waved a hammer at an off duty police officer on the hard shoulder.
Michael Cheeseman tailgated the officer’s car after trying unsuccessfully to move past it then followed him across multiple lanes of the motorway, stopping in front of him and running at him holding the hammer.
The 21-year-old said the “red mist” caused him to act erratically and out of character during the incident but brazenly told police that the officer was the aggressor.
This week, a judge told him that was a lie after dashcam footage from the officer’s car proved the police’s version of events.
Judge Gary Woodhall agreed to suspend Cheeseman’s six month prison sentence after an appeal from his counsel but told him that any breach would see him go to straight to jail.
Gemma Morris
A mum dropped her son’s drugs safe in the boot of her car and pulled off her drive as police closed in on her home.
Gemma Morris was tipped off Joel Lawler had been stopped by officers while dealing drugs from his Mercedes.
But police reached their home in time to stop her as she was about to drive away with his stash.
Liverpool Crown Court heard Lawler was stopped by police in the Birkdale area of Southport on the night of October 31, 2020, after receiving reports of suspicious activity by a man in a Mercedes.
The officers stopped “nervous” Morris who, Mr Stephenson said, “admitted she had a safe in the boot of the car she had collected from the defendant’s room after receiving a call from his girlfriend”.
Inside the safe was £3,565 and further drugs. In total, Lawler was linked to 65g of ketamine, 14g of cocaine and 5g of MDMA.
Morris was handed a 10 month sentence, suspended for 18 months, 100 hours of unpaid work and placed on a three month curfew.
